Sex-change aspirant ‘cheats’ IAF man after marriage promise

Bidhan Barua, a 23-year-old man who hit headlines in 2012 after the Bombay High Court ruled in his favour to undergo a sex-change operation, was arrested in Guwahati on Saturday. He has been on the run for the past few months after allegedly defrauding an employee of the Indian Air Force (IAF) of about Rs 2 lakh. He had lured the IAF man with promises of marriage while pretending to be a woman.

17th August 2013 03:27

Alessia Valenza

The case was filed against Barua at the B-Division police station in Bhuj, Kutch. After the Bhuj police informed their counterparts in Assam’s capital, a team of Guwahati police is escorting him to Gujarat. Vidhi Chaudhry, superintendent of police, Kutch, confirmed that a complaint of cheating was filed in the B-division police station.

‘MANISHA’ CAUGHT

“Investigations revealed that Barua was a resident of Guwahati, so we informed the Guwahati police about the situation, including details of the arrest warrant. Three days ago, the Guwahati police informed us that they had caught Barua and had him in lock-up. They are bringing him here now,” she said. Sub-Inspector M J Gohil, of the B-division police station, who is heading the investigation, said, “An Air Force employee had filed the complaint about three to four months ago. The statement said Barua had initially contacted his victim on Facebook and over the phone, and built up a romantic relationship, while pretending to be a woman called Manisha. They even spoke about getting married. Eventually, he asked the complainant for financial aid of about Rs 2 lakh. The complainant transferred the money without realising his ‘girlfriend’ was a man. Barua then disappeared with the money and the complaint was filed under Sections 406 and 420c, of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66a of the I-T Act.”

Barua’s father Supti Ranjan Barua says his son is innocent, while insisting that he has psychological 8problems. “Officials of Jalukbari police station (in Guwahati) took him away around 9 pm three nights ago. They weren’t carrying any papers or anything. They gave us a phone number, but no one is answering our calls. We don’t know what is going on,” he said, adding, “Why would anyone just give so much of money to a Facebook friend, especially if you don’t know the person?”